Internet Protocol (IP) addresses identify the interfaces that computing devices (also generally referred to as nodes) use to connect to a communication network. Examples of IP addresses include 32 bit numbered addresses conforming to the IP Version 4 (IPv4) and 128 bit alphanumeric addresses conforming to the IP Version 6 (IPv6). An IP address enables IP packets to be routed to and from an interface of a computing device over a communication network.
IP addresses are assigned to the interfaces of computing devices by local Internet registries (LIRs), such as Internet service providers (ISPs). IP addresses can be either dynamic or static IP addresses. Dynamic IP addresses change over time, and an interface may receive a new dynamic IP address periodically, such as each time a computing device connects to the communication network. Static IP addresses are fixed and do not change, thereby allowing a computing device to reuse the same static IP address each time the computing device establishes an interface to the communication network.
To enable the use of a static IP address, the static IP address needs to be programmed into the networking equipment the computing device uses to establish the interface to the communication network, such as one or more modems and one or more routers used by the computing device to connect to the communication network. To support the permanent assignment of a static IP address to a single end-point (i.e., a computing device), in current communication networks a mapping of the static IP address according to an IP routing protocol is required at each node (e.g., each router) in the communication network as each node (e.g., each router) is only a priori provisioned with information for the networks attached to it directly.
IP routing protocols specify how routers communicate with each other, disseminating information that enables the routers to select routes between any number of nodes (e.g., routers, computing devices, etc.) on a communication network in order to reach a given end-point. In order for a node (e.g., router, end-point computing device, etc.) to be set to leverage a static IP address in current communication networks using current IP routing protocols, specialized software is required on both the sending and receiving node (e.g., router, end-point computing device, etc.). Further, current communication networks and current IP routing protocols require boutique (or node specific) configuration data in-order to accurately communicate and propagate secondary network information required to support static IP addresses. The addition and updating of the specialized software and per-node-set configuration data required by current communication networks and current IP routing protocols is difficult to maintain and operate at large scale. Additionally, the tracking and programming of static IP addresses to the various pieces of networking equipment required by current communication networks and current IP routing protocols entails large amounts of effort by network personnel and physical proximity to the various pieces of networking equipment themselves which is often difficult to achieve.